“Caleb?” Xan asked, but his open-ended question was ignored.
Caleb lifted his chin high, stepped away from Xan’s arm, and, with a distinct chill, put his hand out to Janus. He seemed to restrain a wince as Janus took it and placed a kiss on his knuckles. “You’re a spy now, you say? Well, I’ll endeavor to do something exciting for you to report back to the great Doxan Heelies.”
Janus laughed and kissed Caleb’s knuckles again. “You do that, pretty one. Because you? You’ve always been one I’m happy to watch.”
Caleb snatched his hand back and turned on his heel. “When will Ren and the others be back? We have bags we need help with.”
At that exact moment, Ren appeared from the hallway leading toward the kitchen with a handful of servants at his heels, including the new kitchen boy. Caleb set about ignoring Janus completely as he directed them on what to do with the luggage. As the servants scampered, he swept past Xan and Janus, stalking up the marble stairs with a coldness that Xan rarely experienced even on a snowy winter’s day, and had never before seen in Caleb.
“What did I say?” Janus asked, genuinely puzzled by the looks of him, watching Caleb turn to the left and ascend to the landing. “I only wanted to flatter him.”
“Caleb prefers to be respected. And so do I.” Xan hardened his voice to growl. “Stay away from him. I know Father probably sent you here to keep tabs on me, and that’s fine. Obviously, I can’t kick you out immediately.” He stepped into Janus’s space, going up on his toes to be closer to the same height. “But if you upset him again, or I think for even a minute that you have, you can bet your last cent that Iwillthrow you out on your ass, Father’s spy or not. Assuming I don’t actually take you apart first.”
Janus raised his hands in surrender. “Never fear, cousin dear. I don’t fancy him. For one thing, I like them a bit fleshier and with some hair on their chests.”
“Theyare human beings and deserve to be talked about as more than a piece of meat.” Xan gritted his teeth. His father couldn’t seriously be considering Janus in his stead, could he? The man was a playboy and a half, and had been caught in affairs with several contracted omegas. He had no respect for anyone at all, much less omegas, and clearly not for Caleb. “Why did Father send you here?”
“Because, like you said, I have spy work to do.” Janus waggled his brows. “And maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll find myErosgapéhere amongst the quaint villagers of Virona.”
Xan shoved past him, following Caleb up the wide stairs. “I’ll say it one more time: upset Caleb again and Father can’t protect you.”
Janus’s eyes followed him, but to Xan’s equal consternation and relief, he didn’t bother with a reply.
Following the sound of Caleb’s voice issuing orders to the servants, he stalked down the upstairs hallway, ignoring the view of the courtyard out the open windows. He passed by rooms both closed off and open to be aired out.
As he reached what must be the suite Caleb had chosen for himself, Xan muttered under his breath, “Welcome to Virona, my ass.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Urho sat bythe fire in his library, swirling a glass of bourbon and watching flames lick the grate. On the desk behind him, there was a vase of roses, delivered that evening with a note from Xan.
I promise, was all the note read, but that had been enough to get him hard.
The roses’ scent drifted to him, a constant reminder of the man he missed already, though they’d had barely enough time together before he’d gone. Closing his eyes, he savored the taste of the liquor on his tongue and let his mind go blessedly blank. The day had been yet another long one.
After saying goodbye to Xan and Caleb on the platform, he’d driven away confused by his own heart. His face, when he’d glimpsed it in the rearview mirror, was relatively the same, but his priorities seemed to have realigned entirely in the course of a week. The last normal day he could remember, when he’d last felt like the Urho that Riki had left behind, was the day before he’d been called to Jason and Vale’s house to confirm what they both already knew—that a babe was on the way.
Ever since that moment, he’d been thrown off course, and he barely recognized the thoughts that preoccupied him now, the commitments that he’d made, or the feelings that drove him.
“Sir,” a quiet voice said from the door. “I’m sorry to disturb you, but may I have a word?”
Urho waved Mako forward. His longtime beta servant, chef, and not-quite friend stood anxiously by the fire until Urho gestured for him to take a seat. He was looking good in middle-age, with only a little gray at his dark temples, and a few fine wrinkles by his eyes. He wore his usual chef’s uniform over his pudgy stomach, and a kind smile.
“I don’t want to offend, sir, but I wanted to ask if everything was all right. The other day, when your small alpha friend came by, there was…” Here he broke off, looking embarrassed and ashamed. “I believe the other servants misunderstood what took place. Because while rumors have long swirled about your friend’s proclivities, you have always been far too law-abiding and fastidious in your person to have done anything improper. Right, sir?”
Urho swirled the bourbon again and waited for the rush of disgust and fear that should have filled him at having been discovered in his perversion and gossiped about by his own servants. It didn’t come. Instead, a strange twitter of excitement filled his chest, and he had to hold back a sudden smile, for fear of frightening Mako.
“I apologize,” Mako said, swallowing hard and rubbing his hands over his pants. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I don’t want you to believe that I had anything to do with this nasty gossip, sir. Or that I would spread it.”
“Part of working in my home,” Urho began carefully, “has always been the guarantee that you’re working for an honorable man. I pay you on time. I give bonuses for the Autumn Nights holidays. I provide extra days off when needed.”
“All of those are very honorable things,” Mako agreed, leaning forward obsequiously. “I didn’t mean to offend you, sir. I wanted only to—”
“But I am not a perfect man. There are times when the scriptures don’t make sense to me. There are actions I have taken, both personally and as a doctor, that don’t always fit into the…let us call themexpectationsof the world at large and the Holy Church of Wolf in particular.”
Mako ducked his head.
“If you or any of the other servants have a problem working for me now that my imperfection is known, then I suppose I have no other choice than to offer a fair sum as a parting gift, seeing as the fault is mine, and look for servants who may not care so deeply about the personal failings of their employer.”
